The tease trailer for Supergirl is finally here, and it gave fans a small taste of everything they could have wanted: action, snark, drama, and even more Krypto. The film, which hits theaters this summer, promises to be something of a mirror of the popular Superman (2025), thanks to its flawed and cynical lead.
But there’s one thing fans are dying to see that was barely featured. Blink, and you may have missed the brief, shadowy shot of Jason Momoa, making his DC Universe debut as Lobo. Lobo has long been one of DC’s most popular characters, but this marks his big-screen debut. Before you get too excited, here’s everything you should know about Lobo and where you can catch the Main Man’s past TV appearances.
DC Comics & Supergirl Anti-Hero Lobo, Explained
If you know anything about comics, then you know about the hyper-extreme comics of the ‘80s and ‘90s that led to the rise of characters like Deadpool and Spawn. Lobo is a byproduct of that thinking, though he actually predates it by quite a bit. He debuted in the ‘80s as a rival to one of DC’s lesser-known cosmic teams, The Omega Men, before transitioning to his own stories in the ‘90s.
In the current continuity, Lobo is the last of his species, the Czarnians. He’s a bounty hunter by trade, but his alien physiology means he is practically unkillable. Even when reduced to fragments, Lobo always regenerates. He’s also incredibly strong, able to go toe-to-toe with Superman and give the Man of Steel a run for his money.
For a brief spell, he was one of the most popular characters in comics, reworked from his first appearance to become a parody of grimdark ‘90s characters. The character blew up almost overnight, with a number of high-profile appearances and one-shots, but it was fairly short-lived. After just a few years, Lobo was back in obscurity, only showing up for occasional big stories, such as DC’s landmark weekly series 52 or joining Batman’s reformed Justice League of America in the New 52.
These days, Lobo hasn’t been up to much in the comics. He most recently was roaming around space with his daughter, Crush, after she spent some time in the Teen Titans to spite him. In his most recent appearances, he turned up in DC K.O., a linewide DC Comics tournament, but was quickly knocked out of the tournament by Wonder Woman.
With his upcoming big-screen debut in Supergirl, it’s almost certainly just a matter of time before DC’s Main Man makes his return. Until then, here’s where you can go to find Lobo’s biggest TV appearances in streaming.
Superman: The Animated Series (1996)
For many, Superman: The Animated Series was the introduction to a lot of DC comics characters you may not otherwise have heard of. Lobo, voiced by Everybody Loves Raymond (1996) star Brad Garrett, appears in a two-part story in which a villain collects the last members of a dying species. Hired initially to capture Superman, Lobo must instead work with him to escape.
The story is exciting, with great humor and a wonderful, all-ages representation of the typically crass Lobo. While Lobo was, like many other cameos, just a one-off appearance, he eventually returned for an episode of the later Justice League series.
The Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special (2002)
This one feels like it’s little more than a checkbox on the Lobo trivia list, but it’s just significant enough to warrant a mention. Released in 2002 and starring Andrew Bryniarski (perhaps best known as Zangief in 1994’s Street Fighter) as Lobo, this short movie was filmed as part of an educational course for the American Film Institute.
In the film, Lobo is hired by the Easter Bunny to kill Santa so that Easter can become the top holiday. It’s a harmless and entertaining little romp, but you’ll have to find a bootleg copy on YouTube if you want to check it out.
Young Justice (2010-2022)
Lobo makes a few scant appearances in the popular series Young Justice, debuting in the show’s second season premiere. He is introduced as a bounty hunter who comes to Earth in search of an alien robot hiding in the body of a presentation, in an episode that sees him fighting Wonder Girl and Batgirl.
Young Justice is renowned for its action and storytelling, and Lobo’s few appearances here are no exception, but he’s more of a supporting character than an antagonist or recurring character. You shouldn’t expect much more than fan service in these appearances, but if your expectations are tempered, they’re great episodes.
Krypton (2018-2019)
A point about Lobo’s Czarnian heritage that is seldom brought up? He’s functionally immortal. The only place that would really need to come up, though, would be Krypton, a supremely underrated 2018 SyFy channel series about Superman’s grandfather, Seg-El. Lobo appears in the second season, played by Kin (2021) star Emmett J. Scanlan.
Again portrayed as the last of his species, Krypton ties the eradication of the Czarnian race to Brainiac and sets up a feud between Lobo and Brainiac. The character was popular enough that a spin-off was in development, but that seemingly went away when Krypton itself was cancelled.
Superman: Man of Tomorrow (2020)
In much the same way Superman: The Animated Series had years earlier, Superman: Man of Tomorrow used Lobo’s similarities to Superman to introduce brand new fans to the universe. Man of Tomorrow was the first installment of DC’s latest wave of animated films and saw Lobo come to Earth in pursuit of a bounty placed on Superman’s head. The two duke it out, alongside the Martian Manhunter, eventually teaming up to take down classic Superman foe Parasite.
Man of Tomorrow uses a lot of the same story beats as prior stories, but it’s still a really good take on the Superman and Lobo dynamic. Sadly, it’s also the only appearance of Lobo in the Tomorrowverse, and his last appearance in anything prior to Supergirl.
